Analyst Consensus ?
ConsensusBuy16 ratings
Bullish1062.5%
Neutral531.3%
Bearish16.2%
Houlihan Lokey, Inc. · HLI · FY2027 Q2 · Calendar Q4 2026
Houlihan Lokey Q2 FY2027: Fees Lift Corporate Finance; Backlog Supports Outlook
Houlihan Lokey’s latest quarter points to resilient revenue generation despite a normalizing transaction market: higher average Corporate Finance fees and portfolio-valuation activity supported growth, while a record backlog and sponsor activity underpin management’s outlook. The counterweight is fewer transactions, restructuring revenue pressure, and continued macro and sector uncertainty.
Reported After market closeNYSEFinancial Services
$10.19B market cap
100quality score
Earnings scorecard
Reported versus consensus
Reported EPS
$1.85
Consensus $1.63
EPS surprise
+13.5%
Reported versus consensus
Reported revenue
$692.0M
Consensus $625.9M
Revenue surprise
+10.6%
Reported versus consensus
Market reaction
event-close to next-session close
Stock move
+1.4%
Event window
SPY move
-0.4%
Same window
Abnormal move
+1.8%
Stock minus SPY
Volume
2.3×
Versus trailing sessions
Subsequent drift
+5.1%
Up to 20 sessions
HLISPY benchmark
Ask FN2 about HLI FY2027 Q2
Transcript, numbers and history already loaded
Why did HLI rise 1.4% after beating EPS estimates in FY2027 Q2?What changed in HLI's guidance and outlook in FY2027 Q2?Give me the bull and bear case for HLI after FY2027 Q2 earnings.
Free account. Your question opens in FN2 with this report's transcript and numbers attached.
Transcript intelligence
What changed
From Q1 to Q2 FY2027, revenue increased from $511 million to $692 million, while adjusted EPS moved from $1.35 to $1.85. Corporate Finance improved from a 24% year-over-year decline in Q1 to 10% growth in Q2, as higher average fees offset fewer deals. Financial Restructuring declined 12% in Q2, contrasting with Q1’s near-expectation performance. Management also highlighted record backlog and an above-normal second-half seasonal pattern.
Guidance delta
Guidance sentiment was characterized as maintained. Management remained cautious on macro volatility but described a strong pipeline and record backlog, with above-normal second-half seasonality expected.
Key takeaways
- Revenue was $692 million, up 5%, and adjusted EPS was flat at $1.85 year over year.
- Corporate Finance revenue rose 10% as higher average fees offset a lower deal count.
- Financial Restructuring revenue fell 12%, although management cited a strong pipeline, particularly in software.
- Portfolio valuation was identified as the primary growth engine in Financial & Valuation Advisory.
- Management cited record backlog and strong activity, and expects above-normal second-half seasonality.
Management priorities
- Pursue organic growth and strategic acquisitions.
- Expand restructuring capabilities in Europe.
- Continue portfolio-valuation initiatives.
- Focus on mid-market deals below $2 billion.
- Balance share repurchases with cash needs for acquisitions.
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Try FN2 freeEarnings History
Estimate
Beat
Miss
Match
Analyst 52W Price Targets
$146.44Current
$76Low
$168Average
$211High
Latest persisted target per named analyst; persisted current price from FN2's market snapshot as of Nov 3, 2026. Not an FN2 forecast.
Firm-level rating actions
FMP grade actions identify the grading firm, not a named analyst.
| Firm | Rating | Prior rating | Action | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JP Morgan | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Oct 29, 2026 |
| Citizens | Market Outperform | Market Perform | Upgrade | Oct 9, 2026 |
| Morgan Stanley | Overweight | Overweight | Maintain | Oct 8, 2026 |
| UBS | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Oct 7, 2026 |
| BMO Capital | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | Aug 3, 2026 |
| Keefe, Bruyette & Woods | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | Jul 30, 2026 |
| Goldman Sachs | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Jul 30, 2026 |
| Wells Fargo | Overweight | Overweight | Maintain | Jul 11, 2025 |
| JMP Securities | Market Perform | Market Perform | Maintain | Jan 29, 2025 |
| Piper Sandler | Underweight | Underweight | Maintain | Jul 8, 2022 |
| Seaport Global | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Dec 16, 2020 |
| Buckingham Research | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Jan 13, 2020 |
| Buckingham | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Jan 13, 2020 |
| Bank of America | Buy | Neutral | Upgrade | Jan 9, 2019 |
| B of A Securities | Buy | Neutral | Upgrade | Jan 9, 2019 |
| Sandler O'Neill | Hold | Buy | Downgrade | Aug 18, 2016 |
Named analyst price targets
Upside is calculated against the persisted current price $146.44. FMP does not supply a rating on these named-analyst rows.
| Firm | Analyst | 52W target | Price when posted | Upside | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morgan Stanley | Ryan Kenny | $165 | $125.22 | +12.7% | Oct 8, 2026 |
| UBS | Analyst unavailable | $154 | $127.94 | +5.2% | Oct 7, 2026 |
| BMO Capital | Analyst unavailable | $145 | $125.49 | -1.0% | Aug 3, 2026 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $177 | $125.59 | +20.9% | Jul 30, 2026 |
| Goldman Sachs | Analyst unavailable | $148 | $139.08 | +1.1% | Jul 30, 2026 |
| Goldman Sachs | Analyst unavailable | $164 | $136.44 | +12.0% | Jul 10, 2026 |
| US Capital Advisors | Analyst unavailable | $187 | $136.48 | +27.7% | Jul 9, 2026 |
| UBS | Analyst unavailable | $161 | $136.1 | +9.9% | Jul 8, 2026 |
| UBS | Analyst unavailable | $160 | $152.4 | +9.3% | May 7, 2026 |
| Morgan Stanley | Ryan Kenny | $193 | $150.12 | +31.8% | Apr 9, 2026 |
| UBS | Michael Brown | $196 | $168.78 | +33.8% | Jan 30, 2026 |
| BMO Capital | Brennan Hawken | $211 | $180.53 | +44.1% | Jan 29, 2026 |
| UBS | Michael Brown | $193 | $180.42 | +31.8% | Dec 11, 2025 |
| Deutsche Bank | Analyst unavailable | $210 | $191.3 | +43.4% | Oct 9, 2025 |
| Wells Fargo | Michael Brown | $179 | $157.32 | +22.2% | Mar 11, 2025 |
| Morgan Stanley | Ryan Kenny | $163 | $160.3 | +11.3% | Sep 23, 2024 |
| Piper Sandler | Jeffrey Harte | $76 | $82.13 | -48.1% | Apr 11, 2022 |
| Piper Sandler | Jeffrey Harte | $92 | $90.72 | -37.2% | Mar 30, 2022 |
| Piper Sandler | Jeffrey Harte | $106 | $98.42 | -27.6% | Mar 16, 2022 |
Track every rating change on HLI the moment it posts. Free to start.
Start freeCompany context
Snapshot as of publicationHoulihan Lokey, Inc. is a prominent global investment banking firm offering a comprehensive suite of financial advisory services. These include expertise in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), capital markets, financial restructuring, and valuation. The company's operations are divided into three core segments: The Corporate Finance division provides broad financial guidance. It assists both public and private entities with strategic buy-side and sell-side transactions and a variety of capital-raising activities, such as leveraged loans, private mezzanine debt, high-yield debt, initial public offerings (IPOs), follow-on offerings, convertibles, equity private placements, and private equity investments. This segment also advises financial sponsors on diverse deal structures and liability management initiatives. The Financial Restructuring segment guides debtors, creditors, and other involved parties through complex recapitalization and deleveraging processes.…
Historical context
All HLI earningsFinancial Services peers this season
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| CBOE Cboe Global Markets, Inc. | FY2026 Q3 · Calendar Q4 2026 | +5.8% | +6.8% | Cboe posts strong Q3 as options growth and new products advance |
| NWG NatWest Group plc | FY2026 Q3 · Calendar Q4 2026 | +2.0% | -9.0% | NatWest maintains guidance as Q3 growth and capital remain strong |
| ERIE Erie Indemnity Company | FY2026 Q3 · Calendar Q4 2026 | +2.1% | +5.3% | Erie pairs resilient demand initiatives with thin underwriting margins |
| COIN Coinbase Global, Inc. | FY2026 Q3 · Calendar Q4 2026 | +1189.2% | -10.6% | Coinbase offsets lower spot trading with prediction markets and AI agents |
Latest beats and misses
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Missed on EPS
- RYAAYFY2027 Q2 · November 2, 2026-0.3% EPS+2.9% move
- GLPIFY2026 Q3 · October 29, 2026-11.5% EPS-1.3% move
- LYBFY2026 Q3 · October 30, 2026-1.2% EPS+5.0% move
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- VALEFY2026 Q3 · October 29, 2026-24.6% EPS+1.9% move
- PINSFY2026 Q3 · October 29, 2026-5.4% EPS-2.8% move
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Sources
- Earnings call transcript and parsed analysis · 2026-10-29T04:07:56.514259+00:00
- FN2 earnings calendar · 2026-11-03T01:23:13.143323+00:00
- Polygon adjusted daily market bars · 2026-11-03T01:40:47.305648+00:00
- Financial Modeling Prep analyst price-target consensus and quote snapshot · 2026-11-03T01:40:47.302921+00:00
Methodology
Reported and consensus figures come from FN2's earnings event records. Market reaction and volume are calculated from daily adjusted bars around the event; abnormal move subtracts the SPY move over the same window.
Analyst target low, average, and high values are derived at request time from each named analyst's latest persisted FMP target. The current-price marker comes from FN2's persisted market snapshot. They are sell-side estimates, not an FN2 valuation or recommendation.
Transcript intelligence is a structured synthesis of the current and prior earnings-call analyses. Missing values stay missing and are never estimated.
By FN2 Research · Updated · As of 2026-11-03. For educational purposes only; not investment advice.